


Animal

by Burgie



Series: SSOWeek April 2016 [13]
Category: Star Stable
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-17
Updated: 2016-08-17
Packaged: 2018-08-09 07:59:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,106
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7793662
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Burgie/pseuds/Burgie
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Linda takes Louisa dreamwalking again.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Animal

Louisa glanced up from her book as her black and white cat made a little noise in her sleep. It was a rainy day, so Louisa had decided to just sit on the couch and read. Lisa was in the music room working on some new songs, and Linda had decided to come over to spend time with her friend. She was sitting next to Louisa on the couch, her nose buried in her own book.

The noise came again, accompanied by a twitching paw. The cat lashed her tail, and Louisa saw her lip quivering. Pulling back from her teeth in what could easily be mistaken for a grin.

“Hey, Linda, remember how- oh, sorry, were you up to a good bit?” asked Louisa, seeing the way that Linda was gripping her book tightly.

“Just a minute, I’m almost finished,” said Linda, holding up a finger. Louisa waited in silence for a few more minutes while Linda finished the chapter, and then Linda marked her spot with a bookmark and closed the book.

“Remember how we went dreamwalking months ago?” asked Louisa.

“Yes, and you got your first glimpse of your future girlfriend,” said Linda, and laughed as Louisa blushed. “But yes, I remember.”

“Well, can you do it to animals?” asked Louisa. “I’ve always wondered what my cat dreams about.”

“I can try,” said Linda. “You should probably let Lisa know what we’re doing first though so she doesn’t get the wrong idea if she walks in on us.”

“Good idea,” said Louisa. She got up and walked out of the lounge room, heading to the music room. The sound of Lisa’s guitar-playing got louder as she got closer to the room, despite the attempts that had been made at soundproofing it. Louisa bobbed her head a little to the music.

A wall of sound came out of the room when Louisa opened the door, and then she laughed as Lisa hurriedly broke off mid-strum.

“Hey,” said Lisa. Her hair was messier than usual and her bare arms were lightly coated in sweat despite the cool air and gods, she looked hot.

“Hey,” said Louisa, knowing that she was blushing. “Um, Linda and I are going to try dreamwalking again so if you see us holding hands, that’s why.”

“That’s cool,” said Lisa. “You’ll probably be done before I am.”

“Heh, yeah,” said Louisa. “That song sounds good. Is this one about me?”

“Maybe,” said Lisa with a teasing smile. Louisa always asked this, and Lisa still couldn’t tell whether or not she was serious. Truthfully, she had over a dozen songs about her girlfriend, but a lot of them could never be played publically. The public might not know that all of the references to Aideen were literal, but the druids would. And they would not be happy about that.

“Looking forward to hearing the finished product,” said Louisa. She would hear it, too, played acoustically on the couch or on the bed. Or just sung without any music.

Louisa returned to the lounge room, still grinning from seeing her girlfriend.

“What do you dream about, Barcode?” asked Louisa, looking at her cat as she walked past it. Barcode’s tail lashed the couch cushion that she was on, and Louisa could see her side quickly rising and falling.

“Let’s find out,” said Linda. She took Louisa’s hand, and Louisa sat down and closed her eyes, accepting the mental link.

The pathway to the dreams of humans had been bright, but it was mostly white and other pale colours. In contrast, the dream pathway for animals was, well… contrasting. Nor was it as neat and ordered as it was for humans. Here, animals and their footprints were scattered around all over the place. Animal noises also surrounded them, but none were too loud. It was still quite a shock, though.

“Woah,” said Louisa. “This is pretty messy.”

“It is very chaotic,” said Linda, but she was grinning. “Isn’t it lovely?”

“I guess. So where’s Barcode’s dream?” asked Louisa. She felt something twining around her legs, and instinctively reached down to pet it.

Rather than walking through dream mist, Louisa suddenly found herself in a strange world. Everything was bigger than usual (bigger, even, than Jorvik’s larger architecture), and the colours were also more vibrant. And she could smell some very strange scents.

“Stick close to me,” said Linda, appearing at her side. “It’s very easy to get lost in a cat dream. It’s not as bad as a mouse dream, though.”

Suddenly, a large grey blur ran past Louisa. The smell made her stomach growl. And then something black and white darted past Louisa in hot pursuit of the grey.

“What?” asked Louisa, pushing her glasses up her nose. 

“Animal dreams are largely memories,” said Linda. “Like ancestral memories combined with memories of the day. It’s very different for Soul Steeds, though.”

“I guess you know from experience?” said Louisa.

“Yep,” said Linda. “I’ve watched the dreams of all of them. And it’s amazing. They’re not just ancestral memories like normal animal dreams, they’re also memories of their past selves. Tin Can as a powerful war horse, Starshine as a unicorn, Meteor as a horse that can ride among the stars on shafts of pure moonbeams. And Concorde as a Pegasus flitting between the worlds. I haven’t dared to watch Meteor’s dreams for a while, though, just in case…”

“I understand,” said Louisa, laying a hand on Linda’s arm. “Poor baby.”

“I know that he’s repressing his memories,” said Linda. “Whether by choice or not, though, I don’t know. But it really worries me. He has nightmares, just like James did.”

“Too bad you’re not actually a guardian of dreams,” said Louisa. “You could help him out.”

“I can help him out, I just… don’t want to,” said Linda. “I don’t want to see him or feel him suffering. Does that make me a coward?”

“No,” said Louisa. “And it’s not selfish either.” She pulled her friend into a hug. 

“Ugh, sorry,” said Linda, taking her glasses off and wiping her eyes before putting her glasses back on. “We came here to have fun.”

“Then let’s have fun,” said Louisa. “I just have to find my cat again.”

The two of them journeyed through the strange land of Barcode’s dream, looking for the elusive black and white cat. At last they found her, curled up and resting on a comfortable surface.

“Is she dreaming about sleeping?” asked Louisa.

“Looks like it,” said Linda.

“Wow, cats really are lazy,” said Louisa, and laughed. Barcode slept on, not aware of the two humans in either world.


End file.
